Inhalation coordinated aerosol dispensing device

ABSTRACT

An aerosol dispensing device for discharging a metered amount of a medicament-containing aerosol into the mouth of a patient by manual compression thereof, which can be discharged only during inhalation by the patient or by first tilting the device from its normally vertical dispensing position to a horizontal position, thereby releasing a gate which normally blocks actuation of the device.

United States atet Thompson et al.

[451 May 15, 1973 INHALATION COORDINATED AEROSOL DISPENSENG DEVICEInventors: Robert E. Thompson, Maplewood; Ernest LeBreton, LakeHiawatha,

both of NJ.

Assignee: Schering Corporation, Bloomfield,

Filed: June 7, 1971 Appl. No.: 150,654

U.S. Cl ..128/l73 R, 128/208, 128/211,

- 128/225 Int. Cl. ..A61m 11/00, A6lm 15/06 Field of Search ..128/l73,208, 201,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,456,646 7/1969 Phillips eta]. ..l28/l 73 R Primary ExaminerRichard A. Gaudet AssistantExaminerRonald L. Frinks Attorney-Millen, Raptes & White [57] ABSTRACTAn aerosol dispensing device for discharging a metered amount of amedicament-containing aerosol into the mouth of a patient by manualcompression thereof, which can be discharged only during inhalation bythe patient or by first tilting the device from its normally verticaldispensing position to a horizontal position, thereby releasing a gatewhich normally blocks actuation of the device.

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INVENTORS ROBERT E. THOWSON ERNEST Le BRETON ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION Aerosol dispensing devices which discharge a metered amount ofa medicament as an aerosol upon finger compression thereof are wellknown. See US. Pat. No. 3,001,524. A problem associated with the use ofsuch devices is syncronizing the discharge of the medicament withinhalation by the patient so that the medicament is inspired deeply intothe lungs. If a'patient is uncertain whether he has inhaled themedicament deeply, he sometimes will actuate the device several times,which can lead to dangerous overdosage. Also, if the propellant is notdiluted by inhaled air, damage to or spasms of the upper respiratorytract can occur. Therefore, several devices have been developed whichare inhalation-actuated. See US. Pat. Nos. 3,157,179; 3,187,748;3,302,834; 3,456,644; 3,456,645; and 3,456,646. Such devices areair-actuated, i.e., the device is first compressed manually to prepareif for actuation by inhalation by the patient, which triggers amechanism which releases a metered amount of the aerosol. Some suchdevices are triggered only by a build-up of a vacuum produced by thepatient sucking on the mouthpiece, see US Pat Nos. 3,157,179 and3,302,834, which can be difficult for a patient having an asthmaticattack. The prior art devices which do not block the flow of inhaled airare discharged from a cocked position by the force of a stream ofinhaled air, which require delicate and relatively complicatedconstruction to ensure that the force which maintains the device incocked but not discharged condition is overcome by the slight forceimparted by a stream of inhaled air. All of the air-actuated devices ofthe prior art suffer from the deficiency that they cannot reliably bedischarged by the breath of a patient whose breath is too weak torelease the cocked mechanism.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide aninhalation-coordinated aerosol dispensing device of simple, reliable andinexpensive construction. Another object is the provision of such adevice which requires a very slight flow of inhaled air to permitdischarge thereof. A further object is the provision of such a devicewhich can be discharged, if desired, by means other than the force ofinhaled air. It is another object of this invention to provide such adevice which precludes unintentional multiple dosing by furnishing asystem which must be first actuated by inhalation and then by mechanicaldepression for each inhaled breath of the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An inhalation-coordinated aerosol dispensingdevice is provided with a pivotally mounted vane, positioned in achamber which provides communication between an air inlet and amedicament discharging outlet, which blocks the compression-activationof the aerosol valve and the air inlet until shifted to a non-blockingposition by a stream of inhaled air or, optionally, also unless thedevice is tilted from its normal verticabdispensing position to adownward-pointing horizontal position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view,partially in section, of a device in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 1a is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of another embodimentincorporating features in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view, partially in section along line ll-ll of FIG.l; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 the deviceis seen to comprise a housing 10 with a cylindrical portion 12 formed inthe upper surface thereof to slidably receive an aerosol dispensingcontainer 14 therein. The container is conventional in the art andgenerally includes a hollow valve stem or movable element 16 whichtransmits a metered dosage of aerosol under pressure from within thedispenser 14 when the stem is depressed against spring pressure into thecontainer. As described above, the contents of the dispenser can includeany of the known medicaments for treating respiratory problems.

The housing 16) further includes a breathing tube 18 mounted normal tothe cylindrical portion 12 and forming an intersection therewith. Anozzle member 20 is mounted on the bottom of the housing 10 in alignmentwith the breathing tube 18 and is provided with an opening 22 in theupper side thereof communicating with the nozzle and positioned andadapted to receive the stem 16 of the dispenser 14. As can be seen,then, depression of the dispenser 14 to actuate the valve stem 16 bycontact with the nozzle member on downward movement of the dispenser inthe cylindrical portion 12 causes a dose of aerosol to be dischargedthrough the nozzle member into the breathing tube 18.

Positioned at the opposite end of the housing 10 from the breathing tube18 are vent openings 24 which open to the ambient for purposes to bedescribed below. A vane 26, pivotally mounted on an axle 28 with anupper member 27 and lower member 29 offset in opposite directions fromaxle 28, is disposed within the housing 10 between the vent openings andthe breathing tube 18 and subjacent to the lower portion of thedispenser 14. The vane is pivotal in the direction indicated by thearrow and is normally positioned in the illustrated configuration underthe influence of a counterweight 30 and is blocked from furthercounterclockwise rotation by a stop 32. As can be seen by reference tothe figure, the vane 26 is so configured and positioned to normallyblock downward movement of the dispenser 14 thereby normally precludingdepression of the dispenser l4 and dispensation of a dose of aerosolthrough the nozzle 20.

In normal operation, the user places his mouth over the breathing tube18 and inhales, thereby drawing air through the vent openings 24 anddeflecting the vane 26 in a clockwise direction. Deflection of the vane26 moves the portion thereof normally positioned below the dispenser 14from beneath the lower end thereof, thereby freeing the dispenser fordownward movement thereof within the cylindrical portion 12. Thedispenser 14 is then depressed and a dose of aerosol is dispensed intothe breathing tube 18 and lungs of the user. When pressure is releasedon the dispenser 14, the spring (not shown) contained withinthemechanism for maintaining the valve stem 16 extended, returns thedispenser to the illustrated position and the vane 26 is rotatedcounterclockwise by the counter weight 30 to resume a blocking position.Additional doses require an identical, two phase, repetition of theabove-described procedure.

In the event that a user is unconscious and respiration is slight, thedevice may be used by placing the device in the mouth of the user withthe cylinder portion 12 in a horizontal position and the axis ofbreathing tube 18 vertical. In this position, the counter weight 3%swings the vane 26 open, thereby allowing the medicament to beadministered at will, as shown in FIG. 2.

The configuration of the vane may be varied as desired and theself-opening feature of the vane may be omitted if so desired. In FIG.la a variation of the vane configuration is illustrated. Components ofthis embodiment corresponding to those of the preceding embodiment areindicated by like numerals of the next higher order. In that embodiment,.the vent opening 124 is disposed through the lower wall of the housing110 and the vane 126 is in an inverted L shaped configuration mounted onthe axle 128 above the vent opening. Air passes in the directionindicated by the arrows and deflects the vane clockwise when the userinhales as was described above. Rotation of the housing 1 to point thebreathing tube 1 l8 downward will not result in opening of the vane 126automatically.

The disclosed device, in both its disclosed forms, precludes theadministration of medicament in its upright position without priorinhalation followed by mechanical actuation. The danger of overdosage bymultiple actuation is therefore minimized. Because air can flow aroundthe top portion 27 of vane 26 even before it is moved to its unblockingposition, the patient does not experience a feeling of suffocation whilethe vane 26 is in its blocking position.

What has been set forth above is intended primarily as exemplary toenable those skilled in the art to practice the invention.

From the foregoing description, one skilled in the art can easilyascertain the essential characteristics of this invention, and withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changesand modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages andconditions.

What is claimed is:

1. An aerosol metering device for inhalation comprising:

a housing having a breathing tube and a spaced vent openingcommunicative therewith;

means for dispensing a medicament-containing aerosol into the housingcomprising a dispensing element reciprocally received in said housingand actuated upon inward reciprocation thereof to dispense a dose of thecontents thereof into said breathing tube;

a pivotally mounted vane disposed in said breathing tube, said vanehaving an upper member positioned in alignment with said dispensingelement so as to normally block depression of said dispensing elementand a lower member rigidly connected fliereto by means of anintermediate pivot which is offset from said upper member, whereby saidvane is inhalation actuated so as to be pivotally moved out of alignmentand blocking position of said dispensing element, such that depressionof said element during inhalation dispenses a dose ofmedicament-containing aerosol into said breathing tube.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein the means for dispensing theaerosol into the breathing tube is a pressurized container having areciprocally actuated dispensing valve reciprocally mounted in saidhousing to dispose said valve in engaging relationship with the interiorthereof, such that reciprocation of said container results in actuationof said valve.

3. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said vane is pivotallymounted so as to be gravity actuated in a blocking position.

4. A device in accordance with claim 3 wherein said vane is configuredand weighted to move out of blocking position of said dispensing elementwhen said breathing tube is pointed downwardly.

5. A device in accordance with claim 3 wherein said vane is configuredand weighted to remain in blocking position of said dispensing elementin both upright and downwardly pointed positions until breath actuatedinto a non-blocking position.

6. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said vane is configuredso as to permit air to flow through said breathing tube while said vaneis in its blocking position.

7. A device in accordance with claim 6 wherein said vane is pivotallymounted so as to be gravity actuated in a blocking position.

8. A device in accordance with claim 7 wherein said vane is configuredand weighted to move out of blocking position of said dispensing elementwhen said breathing tube is pointed downwardly.

9. A device in accordance with claim 7 wherein said vane is configuredand weighted to remain in blocking position of said dispensing elementin both upright and downwardly pointed positions until breath actuatedinto a non-blocking position.

1. An aerosol metering device for inhalation comprising: a housinghaving a breathing tube and a spaced vent opening communicativetherewith; means for dispensing a medicament-containing aerosol into thehousing comprising a dispensing element reciprocally received in saidhousing and actuated upon inward reciprocation thereof to dispense adose of the contents thereof into said breathing tube; a pivotallymounted vane disposed in said breathing tube, said vane having an uppermember positioned in alignment with said dispensing element so as tonormally block depression of said dispensing element and a lower memberrigidly connected thereto by means of an intermediate pivot which isoffset from said upper member, whereby said vane is inhalation actuatedso as to be pivotally moved out of alignment and blocking position ofsaid dispensing element, such that depression of said element duringinhalation dispenses a dose of medicament-containing aerosol into saidbreathing tube.
 2. A device according to claim 1 wherein the means fordispensing the aerosol into the breathing tube is a pressurizedcontainer having a reciprocally actuated dispensing valve reciprocallymounted in said housing to dispose said valve in engaging relationshipwith the interior thereof, such that reciprocation of said containerresults in actuation of said valve.
 3. A device in accordance with claim1 wherein said vane is pivotally mounted so as to be gravity actuated ina blocking position.
 4. A device in accordance with claim 3 wherein saidvane is configured and weighted to move out of blocking position of saiddispensing element when said breathing tube is pointed downwardly.
 5. Adevice in accordance with claim 3 wherein said vane is configured andweighted to remain in blocking position of said dispensing element inboth upright and downwardly pointed positions until breath actuated intoa non-blocking position.
 6. A device in accordance with claim 1 whereinsaid vane is configured so as to permit air to flow through saidbreathing tube while said vane is in its blocking position.
 7. A devicein accordance with claim 6 wherein said vane is pivotally mounted so asto be gravity actuated in a blocking position.
 8. A device in accordancewith claim 7 wherein Said vane is configured and weighted to move out ofblocking position of said dispensing element when said breathing tube ispointed downwardly.
 9. A device in accordance with claim 7 wherein saidvane is configured and weighted to remain in blocking position of saiddispensing element in both upright and downwardly pointed positionsuntil breath actuated into a non-blocking position.